Handbook to the Environs of London : Containing an Account of Every Town and Village and of All Places of Interest within a Circle of Twenty Miles Round London

Adams and Dart, Bath, 1970 reprint of 1876 first edition. Cloth, 8vo, 21 cm. [8], 795, [1] pp, 36 plates. From the blurb: "This book was first published in 1876 and, according to the author, it 'contains an account -written in every instance from personal examination and inquiry - of every town and village, and all places of historical, antiquarian, and artistic interest, within a circuit of twenty miles round London, and of the more important places lying four or five miles beyond that boundary... These limits comprise the whole of Middlesex outside the capital, a large part of Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire, and smaller portions of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire'. As Thorne rightly claims, the area is 'probably unrivalled in scenes of historical interest and personal and literary associations', and his remarkable achievement was to describe not only the history and architectural details of each place, but also to recall the literary and other artistic figures associated with them, using quotations from their work to illustrate his account. Thus he provides not only a detailed guide-book but also a work of reference from which the present-day reader can learn much of the early history of his locality as well as enjoy a first-hand account of it as it was nearly 100 years ago. The original book was not illustrated, but to this edition have been added 36 delightful early engravings. Agetoned, otherwise Very Good in slightly used dustwrapper.